Sunday, 7 October 2018

Let Them Eat Serco

Now
for the dark side of hospitals,
creeping – no galloping - privatisation of our NHS and what it
means in reality. As I have already reported Serco,
'serves many community services, including hospitals, the military
and prisons.' Oh
and controls the Flyingdales early warning system in Yorkshire. It
also runs Yarls Wood women's immigration detenton centre. The company
was referred to the Serious Fraud Office for overcharging the
Ministry of Justice for the electronic tagging of prisoners there and
in other 'holding' facilities. When the women went on hunger strike
in March 2018 their supporters left decaying food on the steps of
Serco's
London HQ as
an act of solidarity.
The
company has since struggled to win new work while losing a series of
contracts including a deal to manage the Docklands Light Railway in
London and run
a New Zealand prison amid allegations that staff were running “fight
clubs”. Meanwhile
Serco food
here at Barts is, well, a mess of mash. I have started chosing
sandwiches as an option; today's
tuna
lunch,
shrouded in white chemical bread. It would not cut much into Winston
Churchill's
grandson and Cerco
CEO,
Rupert Soames'
£850,000 annual salary to
use a half-way decent roll. Serco
employees at Barts are excluded
from the limited protection of NHS pay agreements and receive less
than £10 per hour. Serco should be thrown out of our hospitals and
food should, once again, be treated as central to health and getting
better. It must not be a means to enrichment for Soames
and his wealthy cronies. Qustion
for Serco's
CEO.
What did you eat for lunch today Mr
Soames?